Last week we reported that two more gaming companies had publicly denoucned SOPA and the ESA’s support of the bill. Last Friday Bungie decided to toss their two cents in the mix and also released a statement calling this “a clumsy effort to curtail online piracy.”
In the statement Bungie said that SOPA “will hurt our community, the gaming community at large, and it could very well cripple the kind of games we love to create and play.” They aren’t the only ones who believes this as more gaming studios continue to come out against the bill. Bungie is urging the gaming community to take the time to read through the bill and to speak out against the bill.
“In a clumsy effort to curtail online piracy, this messy piece of legislation will, if passed, negatively impact both the games we make and the people who play them. If that sounds like very bad news to you (and it should), we encourage you to take a few moments to learn more about SOPA by reading the bill itself, by visiting the Electronic Frontier Foundation for more information, and by contacting your representatives in United States Congress and the Senate to make your voice heard.”
Over the weekend the White House came out against the bill stating that “Any effort to combat online piracy must guard against the risk of online censorship of lawful activity and must not inhibit innovation by our dynamic businesses large and small.” This is good news, but as long as the ESA continues to support SOPA, gamers and gaming companies need to continue to speak out against the bill.
[Source: Bungie, White House Blog]